


The Neverhappening Sequel

by Rizobact



Series: Festival of the Five [4]
Category: Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: AU, Festival of the FIve, M/M, Synopsis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-28
Updated: 2016-10-28
Packaged: 2018-08-27 12:11:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8401204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rizobact/pseuds/Rizobact
Summary: Plenty of things happen after Jazz wins the Challenge of Adaptus and claims Prowl as his prize; this is the condensed version.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I've had several people express interest recently in knowing what happens to Jazz and Prowl after Winner Takes All - thank you everyone! It means so much to know you all loved the story enough to want it to continue <3 I did a fair amount of chatting back in comments on Winner Takes All about what a continuation would look like, but ultimately came to the conclusion I couldn't write it. The way the plot developed felt right, but it isn't something I'm comfortable tackling. However! Since I have the notes and people were curious, I've decided to pull everything together and post it in one place for anyone who's interested in a little bonus content :D And please, feel free to ask questions - just because I'm not going to write this as a multi-chapter epic doesn't mean I mind talking about it!

At the end of Winner Takes All, Jazz and Prowl are set to begin a year of courtship in a shared living space. No interfacing is _required,_ though it’s certainly allowed, and it’s something Prowl is curious about and Jazz is hoping for. At the end of the year, Jazz gets to propose again to Prowl, and Prowl needs to decide whether or not to accept Jazz as his bondmate. Easy decision, right? Except they’ve only just admitted their feelings to one another, and they’ve both just been through a very stressful ordeal - Prowl had Lockdown stalking him and Barricade trying to set them up, and Jazz had Lockdown try to murder him. Twice. That’s a lot to work through as individuals in addition to as a couple.

The trauma of the Challenge (and the stress of everything following it), gives Jazz a really bad case of insomnia. He has trouble falling asleep, and when he does, he has frequent nightmares, making his recharge unrestful. Prowl tries to help him as best he can, letting him know he’s safe and offering to talk about what it was like out there on the track, but Jazz doesn’t always open up completely. He doesn’t want to add to _Prowl’s_ stress, since Prowl is still dealing with his own feelings about having had a scary, persistent, aggressive stalker, and a boss who betrayed him. The result is neither of them is sleeping well, and they’re afraid to rely on one another because they’re trying to protect each other from their issues… which only compounds things as _new_ stresses arise.

Jazz was a minor celebrity before the Challenge of Adaptus. Now, as the Champion, he’s an overnight superstar. Unfortunately, that fame is more of a burden than a boon. He can’t go places anymore without being recognized and waylaid by fans, and while that’s flattering, it’s also annoying (and occasionally triggering, when they jump out of nowhere). He also wasn't counting on how his increased popularity would affect the band. They just went from a group of equal members to one fronted by a star, which quickly starts to cause friction between all of them. Switchstep especially takes it poorly, and starts picking fights and threatening to quit. Jazz suddenly can’t lean on his best friends the same way he used to, and he hates that they’re starting to drift apart, breaking up over something they encouraged him to do and that should have had nothing to do with them staying together as a group.

Meanwhile, the other fun side of having fans is there are always the ones who think their favorite artist should fall in love with _them,_ and instantly hate anyone they try to date. Prowl just got past having one stalker, and hasn’t had a chance to process it fully. Now he’s got hundreds, _thousands_ of mechs, all following him around and butting into his life where he doesn’t want them. He hates feeling helpless again in the face of all the unwanted attention, desperately misses his privacy, and the questions and accusations everyone throws at him about not being good enough for Jazz makes his insecurities flare back up.

Jazz tries to reassure him that he does still want him, that he feels he’s the one who isn’t good enough for Prowl, but it’s hard. As they begin experimenting with physical intimacy, Prowl has trouble letting go and relaxing thanks to some of the more lewd comments about his lack of experience and skill in the berth. Prowl blames himself, claiming this is proof he’s no good as a bondmate because he can’t interface like other mechs. Jazz says it’s _his_ fault, and feels terrible about what his fame is putting Prowl through. He's the target of the paparazzi and hostile fanbots who see him as competition for Jazz’s attention and affection, and it’s making him miserable! Jazz starts to wonder if Prowl might be happier without him, because he knows a lot of that would go away if he broke it off.

All these things build over the first half of the year until they finally break down and have a serious (and difficult!) discussion about what they really want. Yes, it’s true: Prowl doesn’t like being famous, and wishes they weren’t - but he never wants Jazz not to pursue his chosen career, and he had considered the fact that he was a celebrity before he said yes to courtship. He never imagined _how bad_ it could get, but he knew some degree of fame was unavoidable if he was with Jazz, and had decided he would rather find a way to deal with it than not have Jazz. Those feelings haven’t changed, and that’s what Jazz wants too, of course. They joke about how maybe they should have gone into hiding, almost like witness protection, as soon as the Festival was over but are ultimately glad they didn’t. There’s too much going on for them to just vanish, and they’re not the type to give up!

On the same page at last, they begin to grow even closer, becoming each other’s strength as they deal with the difficult things in their lives rather than continue to collapse in on themselves. Jazz works on trying to restore his friendships and keep the band together, occasionally taking him out of the city on tour with them. But Prowl isn’t alone when he’s gone to handle the difficulties than have cropped up in his professional life. Bluestreak and Ultra Magnus are very much on his side as the investigation into Barricade’s criminal activities keeps getting drawn out.

Barricade has been barred from interacting with Prowl and got suspended, but the precinct is operating with only an interim captain until he’s formally sentenced. Naturally, Barricade drags his heels, trying to cut deals and minimize the penalties (even though a conviction really is a foregone conclusion). Prowl doesn’t have to deal with him beyond answering questions for Ultra Magnus and testifying, but that’s still stressful. It doesn’t help that the interim captain, while not unsympathetic, is overworked and doesn’t appreciate the extra problems Prowl brings the office - like the occasional hate mail and death threats from crazy fans. Prowl and Jazz keep in frequent contact when they are apart, and share much more openly when they are both at home.

I like the idea of playing with the notion that not everyone honors or respects the Champion’s Choice like they should, i.e. fanbots thinking Jazz should be with them, rather than accepting him being with Prowl and their union being blessed by the gods. It’s not quite the same as two mechs using the Festival as a way to be together when society otherwise wouldn’t accept them as a pairing (that’s more what Optimus and Megatron did the Festival before), but it would be an interesting theme to have pop up and consider. Jazz at least is religious enough to be offended that his fans don’t respect the blessing they received, the same way he was offended by how Lockdown meant to pervert the Champion's Choice. He used to be very private about those opinions, since a large portion of their society is very secular, but he might speak out more strongly in defense of his beliefs to try to convince his fans to understand how much it, and Prowl, means to him.

Slowly, gradually, things improve. Jazz’s nightmares start to fade, Prowl begins to steady and regain his center, and together they weather the storm of publicity as it blows itself (or at least, the worst of itself) out. Other stories begin to replace them in the headlines, and while they will never be anonymous again, they aren’t the newest, hottest thing anymore. That’s a huge weight off them, and as their stress levels go down, they're finally able to enjoy being together - _completely_ together. No more performance anxiety interfering with their interfacing!

The year of courtship is over long before certain bigger issues can be fully resolved, such as the ultimate fate of Jazz’s band, or who the new captain at the precinct will be when Barricade finally gets sent away (many years down the road it will be Prowl, though not without at least one captain in between, and Jazz will eventually go solo but remain close with Blaster). But that’s in the future. At the end of the year, when it comes time for Jazz to propose again, they've come far enough for Prowl to accept happily. The day has them both thoughtful about how much has changed in their lives and how much will continue to change, but for better or worse, whoever comes and goes, they will always be together.

**Author's Note:**

> Some scenes from this time period may eventually happen as oneshots, but this is as close to a full-length sequel as there's going to be. Thank you for your interest, curiosity, and enthusiasm!


End file.
